Ban Atrazine Toxicants Act

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 9981 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 9981 To prohibit the use, production, sale, importation, or exportation of any pesticide containing atrazine. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 11, 2024 Mr. Nadler (for himself, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Norton, and Ms. Adams) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To prohibit the use, production, sale, importation, or exportation of any pesticide containing atrazine. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Ban Atrazine Toxicants Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) Atrazine is the second-most used herbicide in the United States, with approximately 80,000,000 pounds used annually. (2) Atrazine has been banned in the European Union since 2003, and in Italy and Germany since 1991 due to its long-term persistence in the environment, toxicity to wildlife, and link to adverse effects on human health. (3) Atrazine is highly persistent in the environment and can remain in water for decades. Even after the European Union banned the chemical over 2 decades ago, atrazine can still be detected in groundwater. (4) Atrazine is one of the most commonly detected pesticides in drinking water, groundwater, and surface water across the nation. Approximately 75 percent of stream water and about 40 percent of all groundwater samples from agricultural areas tested in an extensive United States Geological Survey study contained atrazine. (5) The United States Geological Sruvey has found that atrazine is the most frequently detected of all herbicides in urban streams. (6) Atrazine is detected in rain